Not guilty pleas in postal pot scheme

Three Pacific Beach men accused of using the U.S. mail to run a nationwide marijuana shipment ring pleaded not guilty Friday to numerous drug trafficking and money laundering charges.

Brothers Kyle and Chris Gillen, ages 25 and 24, and neighbor Matthew Schneider, 28, appeared together at the arraignment in San Diego Superior Court.

They face around 10 years in prison if convicted of all of the charges.

The men were arrested Wednesday at their apartments on La Jolla Boulevard near Loring Street.

The investigation began last July, when the U.S. Postal Inspection Service intercepted a package of money from the East Coast. They brought on the Southwest Border Anti-Money Laundering Unit — a regional task force of local and federal authorities — and began surveillance on the trio.

The investigation uncovered a complex marijuana-growing operation at a Midway District warehouse, said Deputy District Attorney Stacey McReynolds. When authorities raided the facility Wednesday, they recovered more than 400 plants in various stages of growth.

The three men are accused of shipping more than 150 pounds of marijuana to states across the country, including New Jersey, Texas, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, West Virginia, New York, Florida and Pennsylvania.

Investigators tracked about $350,000 to $400,000 in payments coming back, either in cash packages or wire transfers, McReynolds said.

Selling indoor-grown marijuana on the East Coast is lucrative business. The high-grade pot sold here goes for $1,500 to $2,000 a pound but back East can fetch up to $6,000 per pound, she said.

Searches uncovered an SKS assault rifle, a shotgun and lots of ammunition at Schneider’s apartment, as well as a .45-caliber pistol, a bullet-resistant vest and money counter at the Gillens’ place.

Kyle Gillen’s phone indicated he’d taken pictures of “stacks and stacks” of money, as well as drugs and guns, the prosecutor said.

Law enforcement seized or froze more than $500,000 in assets, she said.

Chris Gillen is believed to have played a lesser role in the scheme and doesn’t face gun enhancements as the other two do, which could lead to longer sentences, McReynolds said.

The trio’s lawyers argued to reduce their bail from $200,000, citing their lack of criminal records.

The Gillens are from New Jersey, and Schneider is a native San Diegan.

But the prosecutor argued that Kyle is a flight risk because he recently purchased a property in Mexico and also has ties to a home in Redding.

Judge Lorna Alksne ended up reducing bail to $150,000.

Court records show Kyle Gillen has operated drug rings before. He testified under immunity in a 2007 robbery case, describing how he funded a drug dealing and marijuana growing operation that ultimately failed when the plants died.